Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command was a short-lived animated series that aired on ABC's Disney's One Saturday Morning block from 2000 to 2001 and on the weekday/Sunday block on UPN, Disney's One Too. It is animated in traditional animation, and is a spin-off of Toy Story. It follows the adventures of Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear and his team as they defend the galaxy from the Evil Emperor Zurg. It was rerun in the United States on Disney Channel and Toon Disney until 2008. Episodes Opening Scene Variations Pixar created more than one opening sequence for the show. Among them: * Buzz lands next to the television (most common scene). * Buzz smacks into the television and slides down. * Buzz lands on Bullseye and then falls off in pain. * Zurg stands next to where Buzz lands and fires at the TV screen. * Buzz lands and is smacked away by Wheezy (riding RC). * Buzz lands and strikes a disco pose. * Buzz lands and opens his wings, knocking down everyone behind him. Characters 'Buzz Lightyear' :"This is the universe. I work here. Name's Lightyear, Buzz Lightyear. I'm a Space Ranger." :—Buzz Lightyear's introduction In Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Buzz is the star of his own show. He is also an actual Space Ranger working for Star Command and protecting the universe from the Evil Emperor Zurg, alongside Mira Nova, a Tangean princess with phasing powers, Booster, a janitor from the planet Jo-Ad, and XR, a robot created by the Little Green Men. Like his Toy Story incarnation, this Buzz is known for his heroism and bravery and is a stickler for procedure, but will tell a cover story if he needs to. However, he has little people skills, and at times displays a lack of common sense. In the direct-to-video movie, he is voiced by Tim Allen, the original Buzz Lightyear. In the TV series, he is voiced by Patrick Warburton. Information from Star Command Personnel Files Academy Ranking: First in Class Special Commendations: *Order of Galactic Merit. First Class *The Andromeda Cross *The Pleadiean Cluster *The Solar Wind Award for Courage *The Nebula Heart *Blue Medallion of Excellence *The Golden Ring of Jupiter 'Emperor Zurg' :"EVIL RULES!" :—Emperor Zurg in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command Zurg is the main villain of the series, in which he rules over Planet Z and wants to take over the entire universe. His subjects are Grubs, which are similar to Star Command's Little Green Men; Brain Pods, who work for him as scientists and researchers; and an army of Hornets, which are his robotic foot soldiers used for battle. One of his henchmen is Warp Darkmatter, who was once Buzz's partner but had been secretly working for Zurg and given the codename "Agent Z." This incarnation of Zurg is a flamboyant villain who often breaks the seriousness of his evil statements, and is just as much a comic relief character as he is a formidable opponent. He is known for videotaping Buzz's speeches so he can secretly mock him, and in one episode tells Buzz that he is his father during a fight (just like he did in Toy Story 2) only to gain the upper hand by using the statement as a "Made You Look" moment to trick Buzz, which likely implies he and Buzz may not be related. In another episode where Senate members are being kidnapped, Zurg is the chief suspect, but says to Buzz that even he considers kidnapping politicians to be ridiculous; Buzz and his crew then eliminate Zurg from the suspects. Despite Zurg's campy nature, he is still widely considered the most evil person in the galaxy. 'Commander Nebula' Commander Nebula is the head commander of the Space Rangers, whose left leg was replaced by a pegleg-like plasma cannon. He is rather short-tempered and constantly speaks with a loud voice. He also hates doing paperwork and therefore signs petitions without looking at them (by doing so, he inadvertently gave permission for the creation of XR, who therefore considers him to be his father). 'Mira Nova' Mira Nova is a princess from the planet Tangea and also one of Buzz's partners. She joined Star Command and became a Space Ranger against her father's wishes, because she was inspired by how they saved her planet. She utilizes the ability to walk through walls (called "ghosting") and read minds, which is a trait of her species. She acts as Buzz's co-pilot and second-in-command and has the most common sense of the team. *Before the show was even made, Buzz hid inside a burger box for Super Nova Burgers when sneaking into Pizza Planet with Woody in the first Toy Story. Super Nova is also the name of an episode of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. *In the episode Devolutionaries, she came in contact with a de-evolve gas that reverted her to a living blue goo which would explain why Mira's father and her race called Buzz a "monkey" or "ape" because they didn't evolve from primates, just from goo. The de-evolved Mira was shown to be smarter than "dino" Booster and "cave" Buzz, even if she could not talk. 'XR' XR is the robotic Space Ranger that first appeared in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins. His name stands for "Experimental Ranger." He was created by the LGMs as a possible partner for Buzz Lightyear (who at the time was still upset over the loss of his former partner Warp Darkmatter) because, being a robot, he could be easily rebuilt if destroyed. Originally he had no personality and was only programed to learn from Buzz, even repeating everything that he said. On his first mission with Buzz, to try to protect the Uni-Mind on the LGMs' home planet from being stolen by Emperor Zurg, he was destroyed. The LGMs later tried to fix him, but since Zurg captured the Uni-Mind the LGMs couldn't think clearly and their abilities to rebuild him were inhibited. Therefore, he was rebuilt with many character flaws, but by the LGMs' standard he was almost human. As a result XR has a taste for the high life, enjoying money, partying, dancing, beautiful women and anything luxurious. He also considers Commander Nebula to be his "Dad" because he had unknowingly signed the papers to authorize XR's construction. XR has gotten blown up on nearly every mission. *XR has many pop-out gadgets and can store objects inside his chest cavity. *XR was mentioned in Toy Story comic #0. 'Aliens' The Aliens are also characters in the series, working for Star Command as scientists. It was in this series that they were first identified as LGMs, short for "Little Green Men". They played an important role in the direct-to-video pilot The Adventure Begins where they were kidnapped by Emperor Zurg, who was attempting to discover the secret of the LGMs' telepathic link so he could use it for his own evil purposes. It is revealed on their home planet that this power comes from the Uni-Mind: a giant orb that binds together all the LGMs mentally and emotionally into a single whole. Zurg later steals and corrupts the Uni-Mind into pure evil and attaches it to a giant ray gun to take over the minds of everyone in the universe. It should be pointed out how this series implies that the Aliens exist in the Buzz Lightyear universe, despite the fact that in Toy Story they seem to be only available at Pizza Planet. Possibly, the Aliens' toys are meant to be only sold at Pizza Planet as an exclusive tie-in deal with the cartoon. In this series, they are voiced by Patrick Warburton. 'Booster' Booster is a member of Buzz's team. He is a huge dinosaur-like alien from the agricultural planet of Jo-Ad. He has a big appetite and lots of muscle power, but is at times ignorant and naive. He had been looking up to Buzz Lightyear ever since his days working as a janitor for Star Command. *Booster was recently seen in the comic Toy Story #0 as an action figure, confirming that the Buzz Lightyear toyline in the Toy Story films actually is based on the Buzz Lightyear of Star Command series. When he first meets the other toys, he is deluded like Buzz was in the original film. *In the episode Devolutionaries, he came in contact with a de-evolve gas that reverted him to a 50 ft red dinosaur with a Triceratops nose horn and beak, Ankylosaurus body and a Stegosaurus tail, proving his race evolved from herbivorous dinosaurs, which would explain where they got their strength and appetite. 'Warp Darkmatter' :"My partner Warp Darkmatter and I work out of Star Command's Universe Protection Unit." :—Buzz Lightyear's introduction to Warp Darkmatter Warp Darkmatter is a recurring villain on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. He was Buzz Lightyear's former partner who had been secretly working for Emperor Zurg as a double agent, under the codename "Agent Z." Buzz always hope Warp will turn back to the side of good. While that has not been the case, they have worked together a few times in the series. Information from Star Command Personnel Files - Academy Ranking: Second in Class Special Commendations: *Order of Galactic Merit. Second Class *The Bronze Cluster 'Evil Buzz Lightyear' Evil Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Patrick Warburton): A ruthless, pure evil version of Buzz Lightyear from an alternate reality which he conquered. He was his reality's ruler, head of a vast evil empire, (Emperor Zurg was the Burger Guy in his universe) and was very cruel and cunning, manipulating Zurg and Gravitina (who adored him) to his own wicked ends. He is the exact opposite of Buzz in personality and demeanor, wears a modified uniform in colors similar to Zurg's, and has a goatee (a reference to Star Trek, where evil doubles tend to sport that hairstyle). Even, though it was Zurg, who was considered as most evil in the Galaxy, the Evil Buzz seemed to be even more evil, as he manipulated Zurg. His first appearence is in the episode The Lightyear Factor, in which one of Zurg's brain pods opened a portal to the alternate universe, and Evil Buzz came back through with Zurg and they attempted to destroy Star Command; however, they were foiled by the good Buzz Lightyear. In a subsequent episode, Sunquake, Evil Buzz has teamed up with Gravitina. In the end of this episode Gravitina is saved, while Evil Buzz falls into the sun. However, the last seconds of the episode show him escaping. Booster said that Buzz is the only person who can survive falling into the sun, implying that Evil Buzz survived his fall. 'Gravitina' Gravitina is a villain from Buzz Lightyear of Star Command introduced in the episode of the same name. Self proclaimed "Mistress of Gravity", she has the ability to control gravitational fields with her massive planet shaped cranium. Harboring a crush on Buzz Lightyear, she was determined to gain his affections, and in the episode Opposites Attract, enlarges Buzz's head and gives him similar powers in an effort to attract him to her side. Her final appearance in the show was Sunquake, where she has met the Evil Buzz Lightyear from the mirror universe and together, they try to control solar flares in an effort to destroy Star Command and Capital Planet only for the plot to be foiled by Buzz and Mira and ending with her being taken into custody. 'NOS-4-A2' NOS-4-A2 is a recurring enemy of Buzz Lightyear. He is an energy sucking vampire robot created by Emperor Zurg. Besides feeding on energy, he is also able to control machines, an ability he uses to turn XR into a brainwashed slave. *His name is a pun on a type of blood sucking vampire called the Nosferatu. *He looks like Swayzak from Toonami, as noted by the YouTube series Pen & Ink Podcast. 'XL' XL is a recurring villain. He is a flawed prototype of XR that was deactivated for destructive programming and capabilities, that seeks revenge on Star Command after being re-activated by Zurg. XL is dumber than his "brother", frequently misunderstanding literary sayings and metaphors. He is voiced by Bobcat Goldthwait. 'Hornets' Hornets are Emperor Zurg's robotic foot soldiers in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. They are extremely expendable (similar to Battle Droids in Star Wars), lousy shots, and always get vaporized in mass numbers by Lightyear's team. Hornets come in different models outside of the lesser models used. Trivia *Star Command is visually based on Space Mountain. *Buzz Lightyear's house is based on the House of Tomorrow attraction Disneyland had in the 1960s. *In an eerie coincidence with the climax of Toy Story 3, the episode "Stranger Invasion" has Zurg requesting a garbage incinerator to be placed in his new base rather than a garbage smasher, as it would be far more difficult to escape from. *Diedrich Bader and Nicole Sullivan also did voice overs in the comic strip-based TV series Baby Blues, as the voices for Kenny and Bizzy, respectively. Video games *''Buzz Lightyear of Star Command'' for the Sony PlayStation and Sega Dreamcast *''Buzz Lightyear of Star Command'' for the Nintendo 64 (cancelled) and Game Boy Color *''Buzz Lightyear of Star Command'' for the PC See Also *''Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins'' References ru:Базз Лайтер из звёздной команды Category:TV Series Category:Toy Story Productions Category:Pixar-Inspired Works